Ah man. . . I really like Mark, and I wish him all the success in the world. I really do.

But the cover art for the UK mass market paperback edition of City of Ruin (Canada, USA, Europe) is awful. =(

I like the background: The city, the moon, the falling snowflakes, the color scheme. But the Harlequin dude must go. It's not as bad as the infamous Patrick Rothfuss gay cover, yet it remains something I would never, ever, pick up in a bookstore.

I can only hope that, much like the new Abercrombie covers in the UK, this one will help Mark move more units.

Check out his blog. He seems quite satisfied with the new cover. Which is what matters, I guess. . .

patrick: speaking of gay. its funny you mention that since one of the central charactors is a homosexual.

I freaking LOVED the uk cover art. of course the one common complaint seems to be that it looks too manga-ish (which is fine with me, since the series does personally evoke that feeling for me). but it works. yet i cant believe that the author himself likes this fugly piece of shit.

rofl!! I know the exact Patrick Rothfuss cover art you're talking about. It was a ton of fun taking that book out of the library, let me tell you. And running into a handful of people that I knew as I was walking to the car, who all asked what that book was, and gave me strange looks.

but the City of Ruin coverart? personally, I don't care for it. But I've seen much, much worse.

The movie version of "The Last Airbender" changed the ethnicity of the main characters to appeal to a largely European background audience.Ursula K LeGuin's "Earthsea" books covers had the treatment.And now Patrick helps us delineate the boundaries of acceptable images of male characters on fantasy covers.While the cover images can't be too asian, black, gay or non feminine for women, at least authors are increasingly willing to write the complexity of life between those non imaginative covers.Fantasy covers...(snort)...same old same old.